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Tonight

Philip Nadeau of Loudon, standing in front of a carriage at the historic Canterbury Shaker Village, will display and sell his hand-crafted step stools and end tables at the Canterbury Artisan Festival Saturday.

Canterbury Artisan Festival a showcase of creativity

Philip Nadeau of Loudon, standing in front of a carriage at the historic Canterbury Shaker Village, will display and sell his hand-crafted step stools and end tables at the Canterbury Artisan Festival Saturday.

CANTERBURY — On Saturday all sorts of handcrafted arts and artisan demonstrations will take over Canterbury Shaker Village, a place long celebrated for its own industrious inventiveness.

To run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the annual Canterbury Artisan fair is a showcase of handcrafted jewelry, pottery and wood and fabric works. Visitors can take in demonstrations of wood carving, chair taping, broom making, spinning, beekeeping and gardening. There also will be a farmers market with music, food and craft activities.

Artisan Phil Nadeau of Loudon is making his first appearance at the fair this year. One of his hand-crafted step stools will be included in the Currier Museum of Art’s exhibition “The Shakers and the Modern World,” which opens Oct. 12 in Manchester.

“I’ve been a long-time member of the village, and the Shaker philosophy and the simplicity of their architecture and furniture continues to inspire me,” Nadeau said. “Canterbury truly is a ‘heaven on Earth.’”

Nadeau also makes small end tables of figured woods such as tiger or birds-eye maple, using traditional pegged construction.

The scenic, restored village is a fitting backdrop for the industrious spirit that guided the community and its followers of Mother Ann Lee to peak in the 1850s. Named for their exuberant dance during worship, the Shakers espoused communal ownership, equality of the sexes, celibacy and living simply. The village has been a museum since 1992, when the last Shaker sister in residence, Ethel Hudson, died.

Admission is the artisan fair is $12 for adults, $6 for children ages 6 to 17, with an additional $10 charged for tours of the village and $5 for horse carriage rides (free for under 5 years old). For more information, call 783-9511 or visit shakers.org